Adidas director of soccer innovation Antonio Zea explains why replacing the controversial Jabulani in 2014, even after years of testing and testimonials from Lionel Messi and other stars, is still the ballsiest move in sports.

Google and Apple aren't the only ones with wearable tech. And Nike isn't the only company with smart shoes that connect with your social network. Adidas' new Google-powered shoe has an accelerometer, gyro, and pressure sensor embedded in the sole. And it talks.

Prime your gimmick radar: Adidas has moved into a new research facility that’s being billed as an architectural visualization of shoelaces. The "laces" are white walkways that crisscross the interior and "tie the built volume together," to quote the architects’ press release. They call the place Adidas Laces (of course). All of which would be downright silly, if the building weren’t so well designed.

Derrick Rose is already one of the fastest players in the NBA. But when he met with designers from Adidas two years ago to discuss creating a new shoe, Rose, the white-hot point guard for the Chicago Bulls, had one request: Make me faster. Since then, Adidas has already given Rose the lightest jerseys ever constructed; on Thursday, the company unveiled the adiZero Crazy Light, which Adidas touts as the lightest shoe in basketball.